


Safe

by echoist



Category: Gankutsuou (Anime)
Genre: AU, M/M, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-04
Updated: 2010-05-04
Packaged: 2017-10-09 07:44:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoist/pseuds/echoist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Imaginary backstory for Franz and Albert.  Possible spoilers for 1.18.  Tagged as underage because the boys are 15 or 16 at the time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safe

        "It's a shame Eugenie had to miss this, eh, Franz?" Albert swung his legs over the side of the roof, raising his glass to the sky in a wobbly salute. Fireworks dotted the late night sky above the Villefort estate, where Eugenie Danglars was no doubt making polite conversation in a very uncomfortable dress.

        Franz chuckled. "I'm not so sure about that. Remember the last time she tried to keep up with us?" Albert frowned deeply into his glass of Malaga. "Oh," he muttered, sticking out his tongue. "That's right. God, what a mess - and I had to clean it up, too."

        Franz's barely-contained chuckle blossomed into a laugh. "If by 'clean it up,' you mean 'call for the maid,' then your memory is flawless." Albert blew him a raspberry and punched him lightly in the shoulder. Franz winked and refilled his glass, emptying the rest of their second bottle into his own.

        "At least she has Valentine to keep her company," Albert mused, taking a deep drink. "I do feel bad for sneaking out, but it isn't as though anyone's going to miss _us_."

        "You are somewhat less radiant than Eugenie in a dress," Franz agreed, earning himself another punch. He laughed as he fell backwards against the sloping rooftop, unbalanced by the wine. He laid back against the unevenly tiled surface, enjoying the cooler air this far above the warm city streets. "Besides," he continued with a wink, as if the the conversation had never been interrupted. "I'm sure Lucien managed to get himself invited - he'll keep the girls entertained."

        Albert's face darkened at the mention of the older boy, and he finished off his glass with a gulp. "What?" Franz asked, slyness fading from his tone. "Nothing," Albert said hastily, examining the bottom of his glass. "Isn't there any more wine?"

        "No, we drank it all," Franz answered mournfully. "Seriously, Albert, has Lucien done something to -" Albert flinched, color rising to his cheeks. Franz's eyes narrowed in understanding. "That bastard!" He muttered, staring angrily out across the rooftops of Paris. "I'll kill him - I swear it, Albert, if he - I mean, if you didn't - I -"

        "No, Franz," Albert protested quickly, interrupting his friend's drunken bravado. "It - it isn't what you think, he just -"

        "He just _what_, Albert?" The look on Franz's face was not to be taken lightly. Albert took a deep breath before responding.

        "He - he said that, well, what with me and Eugenie being engaged and all," Albert's face scrunched up in something very like distaste as he stumbled over the words. "He said that I should at least know how to make a woman happy, and - "

        "He _what_?" Franz exploded, sloshing wine over the edges of his glass. Albert's muffled response was lost in the noise of a firework exploding directly overhead and Franz had to ask him to repeat himself.

        "Hetaughtmehowtokiss." Albert replied in an embarrassed huff, curling in on himself to prevent his friend from seeing the blush spreading across his face. "Really, Franz, that's it, it was no big deal." Albert wasn't sure what sort of response he expected from that statement, but a sniggering chuckle wasn't it. Just was not it at all.

        "What the hell are you laughing at?"

        "If it wasn't a big deal, then why are you so embarrassed by it?" Franz questioned, unable to keep the humor from his upturned lips.

        "If it's that funny, then why did _you_ get so upset about it in the first place?" Albert fired back, eager to avoid answering Franz's question. Fireworks flickered and died across Franz's face while he did not respond, merely stared back across the roof at Albert.

        "Because, I - I thought you meant - " Franz sighed heavily. "I just thought you meant something different, that's all. Forget it."

        "No, Franz," Albert continued, his head swimming with wine and the stirrings of poor judgment. "You thought he'd - hurt me. _Why?_"

        "I think I know Lucien Debray better than you do, Albert. Please, let's leave it at that."

        "_Franz_," Albert pleaded, struggling to see his friend's face through his curtain of fine, blond hair.

        "Albert, there isn't enough wine in the world." Franz said quietly, effectively slamming the door on the conversation. "Lucien and I never got up to anything I didn't ask for and that's the last you're going to hear of it. But - but _you_ -" Franz raised his head, looking straight out over the city lights. _You don't like men._ "You're not - I mean, you wouldn't -" Franz let the sentence drop, unable to finish.

_        You're Albert,_ he wanted to say. _You're _my_ Albert and all I want is to keep you safe._ Impulsive, stubborn Albert. Beautiful, naive Albert, who has no idea how the world really works. Thoughts circled in his mind like the last dregs of wine in his glass and he drowned them both at once. _ Lucien damn well should have known better, and so should I. So should I..._

        "Really, Albert, if anyone were going to teach you how to kiss, it should have been me." The sentence was out before Franz could stop it. He froze for a moment, trying to summon up the humor to play it off as a joke.

        "Well," Albert said, considering. "You weren't there."

        "I've been there your whole life!" Franz said, managing to sound less affronted than amused.

        "I know," Albert said, suddenly sounding serious and Franz turned his head to look at him. Albert smiled that perfect, radiant smile, the one that meant all was right with his world, and it was Franz's turn to blush.

        "I think we've had too much to drink," Franz said softly, meaning _If you keep looking at me like that, I _am_ going to kiss you, and I bet I can teach you a thing or two while I'm at it._

        "It's late," Albert said, probably meaning just that. It had been after midnight when they had slipped away from the Villefort's party, after all, and that was two bottles of wine ago. Albert staggered to his feet, stumbling a little on the slick tiles before offering Franz a hand. Franz hesitated only a moment before he took it, pulling himself up with a wry smile.

        Albert slipped in through through the window first, disappearing into the shadows of the room beyond. Franz followed, only to run into something soft and roughly Albert-shaped. "Mphh," he muttered into what felt like a jacket. "Move, you idiot."

        "Say, Franz," Albert questioned instead of obliging him by stepping aside. "I was thinking...what if Lucien was just making fun of me, and -"

_        Oh. Albert._

        "- and what if he taught me all _wrong_?"

_        All...wrong?_

        "So - so, I thought, I could just show you, and then you could tell me if I was, you know, if I was..." Albert's lips smelled of wine and courage and were very, very close in the dark.

        "Albert," Franz whispered in the stoic tone of the perpetually tempted. "There's no way you could ever possibly do it wrong, so I don't think -"

        Albert's lips pressed against his with a sudden forceful motion, sloppy and reckless. Franz let out a muffled yelp, his hands rising to tangle in Albert's hair before thinking better of it. Instead, they hung in the air, outstretched for long seconds before settling on his shoulders, pushing Albert gently away. He waited a moment for his breath to return before asking as evenly as he could manage, "Well, is that it?"

        "Is that - what?" Albert sputtered, confused and somewhat indignant.

        "Is that all Lucien managed to teach you, or do you have something more up your sleeve?" Silence. Franz wished he could see his friend in the dark, wished he could tell if his remark had provoked anger or hurt. He hadn't set out to cause either, but _dammit_, Albert was the one who had kissed him. Albert may have started it, Franz thought petulantly, but he was going to have to get them out of it. As usual.

        "I - I'm sorry, Franz." Footsteps headed towards the staircase, towards the door. Albert was leaving. _Oh no, you don't._ Franz ran after the sound in the dark, reached for where a hand might be and found a sleeve. Close enough. Gripping Albert's arm, he stepped closer.

        "Don't be sorry - after all, I think you're right. Lucien didn't teach you very well, after all. Here, like this - " Franz cupped Albert's face in his hand and lightly brushed against his lips. Albert didn't move, but he didn't push Franz away, either. Franz caressed Albert's cheek with his fingers, kissing him softly, but insistently until Albert's mouth opened in a barely audible moan. Albert's arms wrapped around him and Franz realized he had never had a chance of coming out of this unscathed. Albert might not remember a thing tomorrow, but right now, his tongue had slipped into Franz's mouth and maybe Lucien _had_ taught him a thing or two, after all.

        Franz pulled Albert away from the staircase, gently nudging him back towards the room but somehow ending up against a wall. _Oh well_, he thought, _that works, too._ Better than one of the statues, or a suit of armor. One hand slid higher up Albert's cheek, fingers stroking his hair while the other reached around and cradled the back of his head, protecting it from the bricks behind them. They had appropriated this apartment for their own use years before from General Morcerf's numerous properties, but never got around to finishing it properly - it had made a fine playhouse for little boys. Franz had never minded until now.

        Albert's hand slid down his back, sending a shiver up his spine. He kissed his way down Albert's jawline, hoping he wasn't moving too fast, too far, when Albert's fingers slipped beneath the fabric of his shirt and his back arched into the touch. "Albert," he whispered shakily against the other boy's ear. Albert's only answer was to pull Franz closer, pressing their hips together clumsily and when Franz felt Albert's erection hot against his own, that really was the end of all rational thought.

        He pushed Albert hard up against the wall and kissed him like it was the end of the world - kissed him as if he might never get the chance again, and after all, hadn't he been right? Kissed his throat hard enough to leave a bruise, the only lover he had ever dared to mark, the only one he had ever _wanted_ to, and whispered Albert's name as he unfastened his belt. Albert stopped breathing when Franz's hand wrapped around his cock. Franz lifted his head from Albert's neck, unsure but unable to stop his hand from making long, slow strokes. Albert's head fell back with a sigh, his breathing hitched and shallow, eyelids fluttering against Franz's cheek. Franz pulled him forward, kissed Albert hard on the mouth while his hips bucked against him. "Franz," he moaned around the lips covering his own, then another, more insistent plea - "Franz!" A few more quick strokes, an answering thrust, a groan like the world being torn asunder, and Albert collapsed against him, breathless.

        It was _his_ name on those flushed, swollen lips, not Lucien's, not Eugenie's, and, as he would often think in the coming year, _not_ the bloody Count of Monte Cristo's. _His_ name, and no one else's.

        That was why, Franz thought, that moment and a hundred others like it, less dramatic, less intense, but no less important - that was why he was leaving Albert asleep on the floor before dawn, that was why he was taking up another man's sword and shield and sneaking out to fight another man's war. He knew no other way to love him, no other way to save him from himself and the madness that had engulfed his city like a summer storm. If every man had a purpose, then this was his, and every moment of his life had only been leading up to it. It was alright - it was enough.

        He bent over Albert's sleeping form and kissed him lightly on the forehead, breathing in the scent of him for the long walk ahead. He did not feel the chill of steel, did not smell the rust of disuse or the sharp tang of fear as he armed himself for the duel - only Albert, only the safety of his memory, and that was enough.

 

 

3/25/2007


End file.
